1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally pertains to the injection molding of solder, and more particularly relates to a method in the formation of high-temperature alloy solder standoff in a solder bumping process, such as in injection molded solder molds.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In modem semiconductor devices, the ever-increasing electronic component densities on the devices and reduced dimensions of the devices demand more stringent requirements in the packaging or interconnecting techniques thereof. Generally, a known flip-chip attachment method has been used in the packaging of IC chips, wherein a formation of solder balls was carried out by an evaporation method of lead and tin through a mask for producing the desired solder balls. Another method employs electroplating of solder, which requires large volumes of chemical baths and which is especially hazardous due to the fact that many solders contain lead.
Another known method for depositing solder balls is solder paste screening. However, with the recent trend in the miniaturization of device dimensions and the reduction in bump-to-bump spacing (or pitch), the solder paste screening technique becomes impractical. For instance, one of the problems in applying solder paste screening technique to modem IC devices is the paste composition itself, in that this is generally composed of a flux and solder alloy particles. The consistency and uniformity of the solder paste composition becomes more difficult to control with a decreasing solder bump volume.
A more recently developed injection molded solder (“IMS”) technique has improved upon the foregoing methods by dispensing molten solder instead of solder paste. However, some problems have been encountered when the technique is implemented to wafer-sized substrates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,143, which is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application, discloses the fundamentals of the injection molded solder technique, and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. One of the advantages of the IMS technique is that there is very little volume change between the molten solder and the resulting solder bump. The IMS technique utilizes a solder head that fills boro-silicate glass molds that are wide enough to cover most single chip modules.
Applying a molten solder to a substrate in a transfer process step then implements the !MS method for solder bonding. When smaller substrates, i.e., chip scale or single chip modules are employed, the transfer step is readily accomplished since the solder-filled mold and substrate are relatively small in area and thus can be easily aligned and joined in a number of configurations. For instance, a process of split-optic alignment is frequently used in joining chips to substrates, whereby the same process may also be used in order to join a chip-scale IMS mold to a substrate (chip) which is to be bumped. The solder, which is applied to semiconductor wafers for flip chip bonding, forms the electrical connection between the device substrate (i.e., silicon chip) and the package (e.g. ceramic module, organic package, etc), as well as providing the mechanical connection between the device and the package. The mechanical properties of the connection are controlled by the properties of the materials, such as tensile strength, ductile strength and surface tension. These properties also play a role in a so-called standoff height, i.e., the separation between the two substrates. Under no-load conditions, this standoff will be largely controlled by the surface tension of the material. However, as the load increases, the standoff will be decreased to the point of contact between the nearest points, such that can reduce the integrity of the connection between the components.